1.If you’ve seen Kanye’s recent NY fashion show, then this may very well be the outfit palette cleanser you need. And I say that as someone who loves Kanye. I would love to buy all of this, but especially THOSE PANTS. All of my summer style dreams come true.

2. It’s jacaranda season and as our Nana would always say, they’re glorious. They are everywhere and they are spectacular. No link included here – these jacarandas are best enjoyed on an early morning walk, just after sunrise.

3. Now to my spiritual home, JCrew. Because, in a truth universally acknowledged, there are shoes and then there are shiny ponies. And trust me when I tell you, you want to be wearing the shiny ponies. I’ve been eyeing these beauties for a while and I’m thinking that means we’re meant to be.

4. Regular readers of bethandarcher.com know how much we love the ocean and even more so, the beautiful creatures who call it home. Last week Long Form (a lunchtime reading fav) linked to The Deepest Dig, a November 2014 feature from The California Sunday Magazine about deep sea ocean drilling. As writer Brooke Jarvis says, we’ve mapped out more of the planet Mars then we have the deepest depths of our own oceans. As a practice deep sea drilling is very new, so the question is – how can we even foresee the impacts, in an environment we truly know so little about? There’s the potential that sediment, having been disturbed from the seafloor, may mix into the water and suffocate marine life. Fluids and metals, if not handled correctly when mined, could spill and kill reefs. Seamount crust mining essentially means the removal of underwater mountaintops, which have been home to sea creatures and other marine life for thousands of years. It’s a must read for anyone who treasures the oceans. Photo credit, Corey Arnold.

A beach weekend is always a good idea. But if you combine that with the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest, it moves out of good idea territory and into get your togs and book it to the airport right now territory.

Port Douglas. A truly incredible town, so stunning and so fun and the only place on earth where two World Heritage Sites actually meet.

So when the question pops up – should we long weekend in Port Douglas? The answer is an easy one (You Already Know feat. Port Douglas, bethandarcher.com).

First up, it’s super easy to get to. Carins is just a two hour flight from Brisbane (three hours from Sydney) and just like that, you’ll feel the tropical north the second you get off the plane.

The drive to Port Douglas takes about an hour and is super picturesque. You’ll also love the fact that it’s super straightforward – just follow the main road leading from Cairns up the Coast for an hour and you’re there.

Make a quick detour to Palm Cove (about 20 minutes into the drive) for amazing brunch spots and views like this.

The Mission. Great culture, amazing food, so much to see. Really – you’re just bragging now San Francisco. Granted, not in a Taylor Swift on Independence Day kinda way – more like a Julia Louis-Dreyfus in her natural state kind of way, because you can’t help it if you’re amazing and we get that. And we love you. And we love Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Here’s our top 3 things not to miss in The Mission.

1 – The Murals

The architecture of San Fran is gorgeous, period. Even in the late afternoon light it’s stunning.

The murals in The Mission bring an additional hit of life and colour. They make the streets sing. It’s like Melbourne’s Hosier Lane on steroids, if Hosier Lane (admittedly, home to our beloved Movida) was jam packed with super cool, authentic Mexican eateries.

There are those subjects they just have to teach you in school. English, geography, maths (they tried and I admit, when it comes to odds and working out potential Melbourne Cup winnings, Beth and I are both totally proficient), the art of playing it cool after your tennis team loses in the district final every year of high school – these are all important lessons. What I really want to talk about though, is what they aren’t teaching in schools, but perhaps, what we should be teaching ourselves.

Fish tail braids is a need to know. Every bad hair day (and I’m talking even half-Greek girl hair, bad hair day) will be saved by a fish tail braid, which will leave you feeling cool and breezy and bohemian.

When in doubt, always chose red. People say trust in the little black dress, but those people are wrong. I should not have to tell you this. I’m talking a red silk shirt for that job interview you have coming up, I’m talking red racerback togs in summer, I’m talking a slinky 90’s style strappy red dress for your ex-boyfriend’s wedding. If 8 is the number of power and abundance, then red is it’s colour equivalent. It’s the only life lesson Tiger actually got right.

You need to be able to drive a manual car. You do. This is not a funny suggestion, it’s a real suggestion. You also need to be comfortable driving said manual car in foreign countries on the other side of the road OR ELSE HOW YOU GONNA CALI ROAD TRIP!?

Which brings me to another mode of transport we all need to master, more ancient and definitely more beautiful. Sailing. Because when it comes to life goals, there aren’t many higher on both my list and Beth’s list, then learning to be really good sailors.

So when in San Francisco, what better way to explore the beautiful San Francisco Bay, then on a sailboat? Well, I guess you could top that, by getting down to Pier 39 and onto America’s Cup yacht USA 76? Sounds like a plan, because even stunning cities like San Francisco really do look their best when viewed from super fast racing yachts.

Oh. My. God. That. View. And how about the incredible San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the background! If you’re driving into San Fran from Monterey then this is the lovely bridge that will take you into town.

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in the water – Loren Eiseley

I don’t profess to be an expert on many subjects. The art of cooking pasticho, yes. Car dancing at red lights, double yes. Professional tennis watching (my professional playing career was limited to an amazing 20 seconds back in 2002 culminating in a reverse smash that I have not stopped reminding people about) – are you kidding me, this is my favourite thing to do, preferably while eating éclairs at Roland Garros. Receiving a JCrew catalogue in the mail and maintaining actual dollars in my savings account – it’s difficult, but I’ve got this people. Winning at Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64? Again yes. I play Peach, to the irritation of many, but I can and will beat anyone, aside from Beth who has a long time history of pipping me at the post.

Of all my weird loves though, one stands out. I love sea monsters and while I am no expert, what I lack in knowledge is made up for in unbridled enthusiasm. I love reading about them. Love a good sea monster documentary. Love youtubing them, not to mention google-imaging-them. Love sending emails to friends with amazing creatures of the deep sea facts, because I love those facts. Love finding articles about unknown sea creatures washed ashore. I love them for their beauty, for their mysteriousness, for all that we don’t know about them and obviously, for their amazing names (long before there was North West, there was the Vampire Squid From Hell, which is not my nickname for Kim Kardashian, but an actual real life deep sea squid).

Most of all, I love seeing them in the actual flesh, which of course, is a bit of a conundrum, considering they most often live very deep in the actual ocean.

Enter the amazing Monterey Bay Aquarium. My favourite part of our Cali road trip and the absolute best aquarium I have ever visited.

When I think of Monterey, the iconic Californian town about halfway between Big Sur and San Francisco, certain things come to mind – the legendary Pebble Beach golf course, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (oh so stylish and filmed in and around Monterey), the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium and the seafood, the glorious seafood (if it’s chowder you’re after, it’s Monterey chowder all the way).

So heading to Monterey, the last stop on our road trip before San Francisco, expectations were high.

We left Big Sur after lunch at Nepenthe’s, stopped into the Big Sur bakery for the essential road trip supplies (flat whites, a long black and a jar of seeded mustard, which seemed like a logical purchase at the time), hit go on our playlist and continued up the coast.

Arriving in Monterey feels like you’ve happened upon a real life Cabot Cove (sadly lacking Jessica Fletcher, but happily lacking the dangerously high Cabot Cove murder rate), making the Murder She Wrote aficionado in me super happy.

You know you’ve arrived when you spot the very pretty marina

The architecture and streetscapes really do seem so familiar.

When in Monterey for the night, there is no other place to stay, no better option, then The Old Monterey Inn (I mean, technically there are plenty of other places to stay but this place is the pick).

Let’s talk bridges (not a sentence I’ve ever used before but one that I may use again because more and more, I’m really learning to appreciate the beauty of a good bridge).

Now I don’t mean those bridges where you forgive people and then all is well and I’m not thinking the card game bridge, mainly because our Yiayia thought I was too chatty and my concentration too lacking to deal me into any card game.

I’m talking actual physical bridges. I’m talking Bixby. The Bixby Creek Bridge to be precise, which I’ve always mistakenly thought of as the Bixby Canyon Bridge, I think because of the Death Cab song.

When embarking on a Highway 1 road trip, there are so many beautiful and unexpected surprises, but Bixby is something you’re waiting for, a sight you’re anticipating and even in a way, something you expect will feel a little familiar, because you’ve seen it so many times in photos.

ABOUT US

We’re Mary and Madelaine, two sisters from sunny Brisbane, Australia. Together, we make up Beth and Archer. On this site, we’ll explore our passions, including the arts, style, interiors, nature and adventure.
Especially adventure.